We've had Sunny since he was just barely a three year old. Now as a 6 year old/ almost 7 I have decided to take on MOST of his care Including: trims, floating, vet care( unless it's major- dad will help), any extras, pretty much everything except his hay.( My dad said he would pay for that)

Holy cow. Kids. If you are not helping out. Be grateful. I am now realizing how EXPENSIVE these loving animals are!!! They are worth it. YES. But so far I think I've spent 400$ + on Sunny for stuff needed/ wanted. and Still have to save up 200$+ for things he needs.

He needs right now( not EMERGENCY but ASAP):
Teeth floated
Trimmed/ back shod
chiro out
wormed
and then extra lol;)

and I have to pay for it all.. I owe my dad 38.19( to be exact haha) because he bought Sunny some feed, so that he would gain some weight and wormer for him as well.

I remember thinking not long ago, I wanted another horse, that I wouldn't mind paying for BOTH of them.. NOW.. Im glad I only have this one that he is making me pay a bit for.. REALITY CHECK..

Horses. are. expensive.

I just bought him home bell boots and a new bit.. 2 things.. FOR $50 bucks.. holy cow.. I am thankful for my Dad:)

ok.. end of what I was saying

also, did anyone else have to pay for their horses at my age (16) fully?!?! How'd did you manage that!

i paid for board, trims and everything else at 16. my parents made a deal with me that if i could pay for it i could have one. so i got a job, worked on the farm and it worked. right now i have a daughter and trying to move out so im horseless right now. its hard but rewarding :)Posted via Mobile Device

It's better to have that reality check now when your parents are still willing to help pay for some things. THink if you had it for the first time while learning all the expenses of living on your own.

I did, bought my own horse,and looked after everything. We did our own haying so I didnt have to buy hay but I did have to work my butt off helping. I learned to go without things so my horse could have the best of everything. Looking back now I wish o could go back thereand not waste my money on bills and rent and other adult things lolPosted via Mobile Device

Haha. Tell me about it. My horse eats up my whole months pay check. I literally have nothing left at the end. Thankfully I don't pay rent ( I live with my parents) I may need to get a second job to keep him ;p. But Yeah like you my parents offered to pay for any MAJOR emergencies. But I'm on my own for board, tack, minor vet things, farrier, teeth etc… I am broke. But he's definitely worth it :).

I worked for my trainer in exchange for board & training. I braided and groomed before shows to get my entry fees. I paid for all vet, farrier, tack, chiro, and "I want its". Yup, they're expensive. And they don't get any cheaper once you're full grown .....But they're worth every dime!

Just wanna say good for you for being a responsible young lady in taking on those expenses. I see way to many teenagers take there horse habit for granted and expect there parents to pay for everything. Its good that your getting that reality check while your parents are willing to help you out, and not when your out on your own.

On another note, learning how to balance your money and learning to manage your expenses now, will also help you when your older, its a good skill set to have. Set up a budget for yourself for the things your horse needs, also set aside a little bit a month in for those unexpected costs.

I know for myself paying for things my horses needed when I was a teenager, sure felt good saying to myself and to other ppl, yup I paid for that, and I did all that hard work, sure makes you feel good inside.

When I was about 8 the deal was that if I could make about $2,000 then my parents would let me have a horse (they would pay for board but I had to pay for the horse). I made about $3,000 through that year so I ended up with my mare.

When I hit about 13 I started paying for the horses (we have two) by working at the barn where we rough boarded. I got quite a bit taken off for dealing with training horses, untouched horses, and assisting the main trainer for about 6 years.

When I was 16 to manage it (with limited help from my mom) I worked my butt off in high school, then worked as many jobs as I could, and cut out everything that wasn't necessary. So no chiro visits (they were never needed so I never had them out unless I had a major problem which was never), no vets out either unless it was an emergency (I gave all my vaccines and treated some ailments), used tack that had seen better days and even at one point built a bridle out of baling twine. My horses were out 24/7 365 days a year and I picked up some old I guess you would call it "cowboy" tricks from the old farmers in my area. My farrier taught me to ride on the road a lot to keep their feet down, or put big rocks in the pasture for them to trim their own feet, my boss taught me how to treat the minor ailments and how to make a cut not get infected. The list goes on. I barely had anything myself (I was content with my horses) and only went out about twice every two months with friends and always spent less and budgeted wisely. I still to this day drive a crap car that has three doors that don't work, no heat/AC, no windows, no wipers, and is in a sad state. My mom's helping me more as I'm going to college and she has a horse to but I've never taken mine for granted and it's just given me more fuel to budget because I love this as a life!

I am not yet paying for my horses keep but he's an easy keeper. :P
I buy any equipment that I want for him, harness (though my dad put 90 euro towards it), cart, things that I like. I rasp his hooves myself because my dad always waited too long for the next trim. I am lucky though, the man who owns the land doesn't often take money, it's usually exchanged with work or favours. :)
What would I do without my daddy? :P

Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the The Horse Forum forums, you must first register.

Already have a Horse Forum account?
Members are allowed only one account per person at the Horse Forum, so if you've made an account here in the past you'll need to continue using that account. Please do not create a new account or you may lose access to the Horse Forum. If you need help recovering your existing account, please Contact Us. We'll be glad to help!

New to the Horse Forum?Please choose a username you will be satisfied with using for the duration of your membership at the Horse Forum. We do not change members' usernames upon request because that would make it difficult for everyone to keep track of who is who on the forum. For that reason, please do not incorporate your horse's name into your username so that you are not stuck with a username related to a horse you may no longer have some day, or use any other username you may no longer identify with or care for in the future.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

OR

Log-in

User Name

Password

Remember Me?

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Old Thread Warning

This thread is more than 90 days old. When a thread is this old, it is often better to start a new thread rather than post to it. However, If you feel you have something of value to add to this particular thread, you can do so by checking the box below before submitting your post.I am aware that this is an old thread and I want to revive it rather than starting a new thread.